


Montauk

by apollosgoldenlyre



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: A little fluffy, Comfort, F/M, Romance, a little sad, but it's all good, hardship, sally jackson appreciation post
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-29
Updated: 2020-10-29
Packaged: 2021-03-09 03:15:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27267838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apollosgoldenlyre/pseuds/apollosgoldenlyre
Summary: “Poseidon inhaled deeply and hummed as he exhaled. Sally could feel the vibration against his chest. ‘I would stop the tide for you, Sally Jackson.’Sally closed her eyes and tilted her head to kiss the underside of his jaw. Now that the unfortunate reality was beginning to set in, she wanted nothing more than to stay in that moment for as long as she could.”orSummer 1992 as told by Sally Jackson. Otherwise known as the summer that Sally met Poseidon and her whole world changed.
Relationships: Sally Jackson/Poseidon (Percy Jackson)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 44





	Montauk

**Author's Note:**

> This is a repost of a story I wrote in 2017 and posted to ff.net that has since been edited!

Sally Jackson’s life wasn’t easy, that was a fact.

When she was just a little girl, her parents had passed away in a plane accident. It was so sudden and it rocked her little world. She immediately found herself without her mother’s daily ritual of going into Sally’s room and brushing her brown locks, fixing them into loose plaits or high ponytails with ribbons tied around them. She missed her father coming home from work and sweeping her into his arms, planting big kisses on her cheeks and at the top of her head. She was left parentless and in the custody of her only remaining relative: her uncle Dan.

Sally had only met Dan once, and even then, she could tell that he wasn’t very fond of her. As time went on, she would come to realize that he wasn’t very fond of children at all. Her days with her uncle were often lonely. He’d become irritated when she asked him to play, so she learned it was just better to leave him be. They hardly ate dinner together – a far cry from the cheery family dinners she’d known with her parents. She would tell him that she was hungry, and Dan would throw together a ham and cheese sandwich for her, then retreat to his study or his bedroom, mumbling about how unbelievable it still was that his brother had left him with a child. As soon as she was big enough to work the stove without hurting herself, Sally began learning how to cook and could prepare a whole homemade meal by the time she was 12.

Sally became extremely independent – going to school, only asking for necessities, and living off the bare minimum until she was old enough to get a job. Her slow-rolling days were motivated by her aspirations. She often dreamt of leaving Dan’s place and heading to NYU on academic scholarships and financial aid in hopes of studying Creative Writing. She could imagine herself sitting in a small study of her own, penning novel after novel, each one receiving the highest praises from critics and other authors. Unfortunately, tragedy struck again when Sally was 16, and her dreams were ripped out from beneath her. Dan was diagnosed with liver cancer and a slim chance of survival. Being the only other person in his life, Sally was forced to drop out of high school to care for him. Her hopes of attending NYU – or any college at all, for that matter – were gone. Dan had to stop working, which meant Sally had to pick up the slack. She managed to snag three minimum-wage jobs in the city to cover food and the bills. Her uncle’s medical expenses were mostly taken care of with health insurance, but the treatments weren’t enough and the insurance eventually ran out. In the end, he couldn’t be saved, only made comfortable until he passed. Sally was only 19 and the last of her family had disappeared, leaving her completely alone.

Sally paid the rest of the bills with whatever money her uncle had left behind. She sold his house and put a deposit down on a tiny shoebox apartment in Queens. With the little extra she had, she decided to rent out a run-down cabin on Montauk beach. Summer _was_ just around the corner, and she figured the escape would be well worth it. However, as creative as she was, Sally could never have imagined what Montauk would hold for her.

~~~~~~~

_June 1992_

Sally Jackson stood ankle-deep in the ocean tide her first summer morning in Montauk. She was wrapped in a light cardigan as she stared out over the calm water, her mind focused on nothing but the seagulls flying overhead and the way the sunlight glittered on the waves as the sun rose in the sky. Her toes dug into the sand, and she closed her eyes, inhaling the ocean air. She stood that way for a few moments until she was overcome with the feeling that someone was watching her. Sally opened her eyes and looked around and behind her, but found no one. The sensation vanished. She thought it odd, as her cabin was located on one of the more private areas of the beach. There really shouldn’t have been anyone around at all.

Sally tossed the thought aside and headed back into the cabin to go about her day. As the week went on, her mornings became routine, each one like déjà vu with the sense of someone’s eyes on her. Each time, she looked around for the bystander only to find herself alone on the beach. Until her company revealed themselves.

Sally felt the presence once again and searched the beach to the right side of her for anyone suspicious. She saw nothing and turned to look the other way. She was about to shake it off and head back to her cabin when a low, smooth voice disturbed the silence and startled her.

“You’re a bit of an early riser, aren’t you?”

Sally jumped and looked to her right to find a young man smiling fondly at her. He definitely hadn’t been there a moment ago.

The man wore an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt over a white t-shirt, and cargo shorts with flip flops. He was stalky and well-built with warm, tanned skin, like he’d spent his entire life in the sun. His raven hair was wild and shifted in the ocean breeze. His eyes reflected the grey-green color of the water.

“I-I guess,” Sally replied hesitantly. Could this man have been the person who’d been watching her? “I’m sorry…who are you?”

The man flashed her a grin and a tingle slipped through her body. He stepped forward and stretched out a large hand. “Poseidon.”

Sally cocked her head at the strange sound of his name, but shook his hand anyway. “Poseidon? Like the Greek god?”

His eyes twinkled mischievously. “Exactly.”

“Huh. Interesting.” Well, it wasn’t the _strangest_ name she’d ever heard.

“And you are?”

Sally shook her herself out of her head. “Oh! I’m Sally. Jackson. Sally Jackson.”

The man chuckled. It was a low, hearty sound and it reminded her oddly of Santa Claus. She shooed the thought away. This man was too handsome to be compared to Santa. He was also much younger – probably just a few years older than Sally – though upon closer observation, he looked as though he harbored an old soul.

“Well, Sally Jackson, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“’Finally?’” Sally asked. “You mean you’ve seen me before?”

Poseidon’s smile didn’t falter. “Of course. You come out of your cabin every day at six a.m. to stand here and watch the sun come up over the water. Then you look around and go back inside.”

Sally was a bit taken aback. Poseidon had just confessed to being the presence who had been stalking her for the past week. “You’ve…been watching me?”

“Not with ill intentions,” he said, seeming to read her mind. “Just out of curiosity.”

“Curiosity,” she repeated.

Poseidon raised an amused eyebrow. “Yes. I wanted to see if you came outside every morning or if it was just an occasional recurrence. Besides, it’s not exactly easy looking away from a beautiful woman such as yourself.”

Sally felt her cheeks flush. She’d never been called beautiful by a guy before. She’d left high school before she ever had the chance to get into the dating scene. “Well.” She cleared her throat. “Now that you know, what are you going to do?”

Poseidon brandished a trouble-maker smile once more, sending another zap through Sally’s chest. “I was hoping you could tell me. Do you mind if I join you?”

“I suppose that would be okay.”

He moved to stand beside her, their shoulders only inches away from touching when he finally settled. He stuffed his hands into the pockets of his shorts and looked proudly out into the water, as if he owned everything under the horizon.

Sally didn’t mean to stare, but she wanted to make sense of this mysterious man. He’d been very sneakily watching her for the past week without her ever spotting him and then he finally showed himself this morning, seeming to appear out of nowhere. Feelings of wariness and intrigue conflicted with one another in her mind. Additionally, there was an air about him that she couldn’t place. Something powerful, confident, and all-knowing pulled at her like a suction wind.

She reverted her attention back to the water. The sky was now a mixture of pale yellow beams in the light blue. The sun peeked over the edge of the water in the distance, bringing the world to life.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?”

Sally nodded, mesmerized by the sight before her. “Yes, it is.”

“Why do you come out here every day, Sally Jackson? What are you looking for out there?”

It was the kind of question that she could have easily dismissed or given only a non-answer to. However, she felt compelled to allow the truth to escape her lips. “Hope, I suppose. Maybe courage? I don’t know. The waves just calm me down and the sunrise reminds me that every day is a new beginning. It’s an opportunity to do something different. To make a change.”

She could feel Poseidon staring at her. She looked over and gave him an apologetic smile. “Sorry. I tend to romanticize things.”

Poseidon smiled warmly. “No need to apologize. It was a lovely thought.” He paused. “So, what change will you make today, then?”

Sally threw caution to the wind and looked him squarely in the eyes. They flickered with movement, as if his irises were literally made up of seawater. In the sunlight glow, they were a bright blue-green as opposed to the paler hue they’d taken on earlier and they twinkled with mirth. Once again, she was mesmerized.

She smiled slowly. “I think I’ve got an idea or two. Would you like to come inside for some coffee or tea?”

~~~~~~~

_July 1992_

Sally had spent the last three weeks with the man she’d met on the beach. He was teaching her how to surf in exchange for cooking lessons. While she was making good progress out on the ocean, Poseidon was a disaster in the kitchen. They had started off simple with a chocolate chip cookie recipe, but he’d managed to pour one cup of baking soda into the mixture rather than a cup of sugar. Sally hadn’t noticed until she bit into the first cookie and nearly choked. When she was able to breathe again, she’d asked him what all he’d put in the batter, and laughed when he held up the empty Arm & Hammer box. She laughed even harder upon seeing the red tint of his cheeks and hearing him grumble under his breath about how all the powders looked the same.

Sally had her fair share of embarrassing moments in the water. There were times when she would gain her balance as she stood up on her surfboard, only to have a wave knock her over two seconds later. Poseidon had chuckled heartily as he watched her swim back over to him looking miffed. She eventually got the hang of it and began working on extending the amount of time she could ride a wave. At one point, she even teased him about how good she was getting at surfing while he remained a mess of a chef. They’d been straddling their surfboards and Poseidon had narrowed his eyes at her, smirking at her daringly. The next thing she knew, Sally was flipped off her surfboard and tossed underwater by an unseen force. When she came up, Poseidon was shaking with silent laughter. She’d considered it odd that she’d fallen over; the waves weren’t nearly strong enough and Poseidon was a bit more than an arm’s reach away. There was no way he could have flipped her himself. Despite her suspicions, she had huffed in annoyance and climbed back onto her board, making sure to splash Poseidon as she did so.

The pair carried on this way for several more days, teasing and laughing and learning. Sally became self-aware around Poseidon. She checked to make sure that her hair wasn’t a wild mess, made it a point to wear her nicer clothes on the days they didn’t spend in the water, and picked her words carefully as to not scare him away when she told him stories of her past and her hopes for the future.

Luckily, Poseidon didn’t seem to scare so easily.

As a matter of fact, he seemed to gravitate towards Sally more. He encouraged her dream of becoming a writer and tried convincing her to go back and get her GED and apply for college. _It’s not that easy,_ she would tell him, smiling sadly. She had just lost the remainder of her small family and she needed to stabilize herself before she could even think about going back to school.

“You and I could run away together, live underwater in my palace. Then you wouldn’t have to worry about being stable.”

“Oh, so you just happen to have an underwater palace?”

For strange moment, Sally thought she saw panic flash through Poseidon’s eyes, but the thought fled her mind when his face cracked into a grin. “Oh, sure. It’s magnificent. You should come by sometime. There’s plenty of room down there for you.”

Sally laughed and sat forward in her seat, crossing her arms over the wooden tabletop in her cabin. “And what makes you think I’d run away with you?”

“Well, I happen to be an excellent cook, for one thing. Taught by the best.”

She chuckled. “And?”

Poseidon shifted in his chair, and leaned towards her. “ _And_ I’m a wonderful fisher. Seafood shouldn’t be too hard to find down there.”

“Okay…”

“And you could decorate your room however you want. Maybe a pearl chandelier, a wardrobe made of abalone shell, some sea glass windows…”

“I’m listening…”

They had leaned closer and closer to one another as they spoke, their voices lowering with each exchange. Poseidon’s face was only inches from Sally’s and she could smell the fresh sea breeze on his skin. Neither of them was smiling now.

“And…I think you’d really enjoy spending so much time with me.” Poseidon’s voice was quiet and gentle and Sally watched his lips as his words left them.

“Is that so?”

“Yes,” he murmured. Within a second his lips were on hers. He tasted salty, but sweet, like saltwater taffy. Sally’s brain turned to mush.

Too quickly, Poseidon pulled away. “I’m sorry, I –“

“Don’t be.” Sally ignored his attempted apology and pulled his face back to hers, kissing him more eagerly this time. He didn’t seem to mind as he returned the intensity.

When they separated, they rested their foreheads against one another. Both of Sally’s hands cupped the sides of Poseidon’s face. The scruff of his jaw tickled her palms. His breath came out in shallow huffs that landed warm on Sally’s cheeks.

“Now,” she said quietly, looking up into his swirling green irises. “Tell me more about that palace.”

~~~~~~~

_August 1992_

Sally had seen some strange things during her time in Montauk with Poseidon. There were a couple of instances where the two would be swimming around in the water and he would come up completely dry, but the second Sally blinked, he’d be soaking wet. He would even disappear underwater for much longer than the human average of two minutes at a time, and she’d begin to panic until she saw his head pop up. _You didn’t think I’d drowned, did you?_ he’d ask with a sly smile. She’d splash water in his face and call him mean for scaring her.

On one occasion, the couple walked hand-in-hand down the length of the beach at sunset. They said nothing, but the silence was comforting. Sally had gazed out into the horizon, content and blissful in the moment. Then she spotted something in the distance that resembled the Loch Ness monster with large spiky fins jutting from its back as it slithered through the calm water. A split second later, the anomaly was taken under by a lone wave. It was an extremely odd incident for Sally, but she didn’t dare mention it to Poseidon for fear of sounding loony. Instead, she blamed her overactive imagination.

Sally continued to make excuses for the unsettling things she experienced, dismissing them as tricks of the mind. It seemed to work for her until one August morning when she woke much too early. She normally rose at six a.m. to watch the sunrise with Poseidon, but on that particular morning, she woke earlier, unable to fall back asleep. She thought it best not to try to force herself back into slumber, and instead dressed herself for the day. It was still a bit dark out, but she figured she could start a fire and use it as light to read until the sun came up.

Sally grabbed the novel that she had started reading earlier in the week along with a lighter and stepped out into the cool, early morning air. She rounded the corner of her cabin to the side where her fire pit was located and stopped short when a light caught the corner of her eye.

Just several yards away was a large glowing fork. At least, that’s what Sally thought it was. It was almost six feet long and burned with pale blue energy in the dawn. Even from the distance that she was at, she could feel the power radiating off the object, warming her body and making her skin buzz.

The giant glowing pitchfork wasn’t the most surprising part, however. It was the person _holding_ the giant glowing pitchfork that sent her mind reeling.

Poseidon stood in the shallow tide like he had the day they first met with one hand tucked into his shorts pocket, the other gripping the trident. The light from the weapon lit up his body, causing his pale t-shirt to glow and his ebony hair to reflect blue in the dark. She couldn’t see his face, but she didn’t have to in order to know it was him. She could tell well enough just by watching how he stood.

Sally made no noise, but Poseidon turned in her direction as if she’d just called out his name.

“Sally!”

The trident shrunk and disappeared, taking the light with it. Poseidon walked quickly over to her, now clutching something much thinner and flimsier in his hand. Sally thought she must have looked like a gaping fish as she tried to process what she’d just witnessed.

Poseidon came to stand right before her. Sally made out the object in his hand to be a fishing pole. “I was just doing some early morning fishing,” he lied. His voice lacked its usual conviction. Strained and nervous, it sounded foreign to Sally’s ears.

“With a glowing pitchfork?”

It sounded so incredibly silly that Sally tried to desperately convince herself that it really was just her imagination, but she knew deep down that it wasn’t. She had actually seen that.

“Pitchfork? No, a fishing pole, darling.”

Sally shook her head, not buying into his trick. “No. It was a pitchfork or something. A – a trident! I saw it. Glowing. You just turned it into a fishing pole.”

Poseidon said nothing. Even in the fading moonlight, Sally could see his grim expression. The wind picked up slightly and the ocean began to churn, turning the still water choppy.

“Poseidon, what is going on? What aren’t you telling me?”

And then it hit her.

_Poseidon. Like the Greek god? Exactly…_

_You and I could run away together, live underwater in my palace…_

_You didn’t think I’d drowned, did you?..._

Tears pricked Sally’s eyes. The realization was too much for her – so unfathomable, it couldn’t be real. She felt dizzy.

Poseidon noticed. He stepped forward and gently placed his free hand on her arm. “My dear,” he started. “Let’s talk about this inside.” His eyes were now dark and stormy, once again mirroring the state of the ocean, and Sally’s suspicions were confirmed. Despite her urge to turn and run in any other direction, she allowed Poseidon to lead her back into the cabin and into a chair at the kitchen table where they’d first kissed.

Where Sally had kissed a _god._

She closed her eyes and rested her head in her hands as Poseidon sat down beside her and began talking. He explained everything to her: how he was underwater when he felt her presence that first day she’d spent on the beach. He had come up to see her and had watched her through the sea breeze every day after that until he decided he needed to meet her. He called her irresistible. He said that he knew he shouldn’t have shown himself to her, but that he wanted to. So badly. He hadn’t wanted her to find out this way; he hadn’t wanted her to find out at all. Because he was just going to leave in the end.

Sally cried. She didn’t mean to, but she couldn’t help it. She had finally met an amazing guy who had stolen her heart in just a couple of short months, and now she was finding out that it was never meant to be. That they would never be together after the summer ended. Just like everyone else in her life, he was disappearing too.

“Sally, you must understand. I can’t stay here in the mortal world, no matter how badly I want to.” Poseidon sighed. “And I _do_ want to…with you… Alas, it can never be.”

With his thumb, he wiped the tears from Sally’s cheek and gathered her hands into his large, rough ones – the same hands she’d been holding since the beginning of the summer. They were so different now.

“Sally, look at me,” he said gently. She complied. His expression was regretful and guilty, but tender nonetheless. He lifted a hand to push her hair behind her ear and stroke her cheek. “I’m sorry I’ve hurt you. It wasn’t my intention. I became too selfish with you.”

Sally wanted to be mad. She should have been mad – any rational person would have been. But she was too understanding, too forgiving. People often told her so growing up. After watching him for a beat, she simply sighed and leaned forward to rest her head against Poseidon’s shoulder. Devine entity or not, she couldn’t deny the feelings she had developed for him…which made being mad that much harder.

“Can we at least have the rest of the summer together?”

Poseidon wrapped his arms tightly around her body and rested his cheek against her temple. “Of course, my dear. We can do anything you wish.”

A small smile tugged at Sally’s lips. “That’s alright. I just want to spend these last few weeks with you.”

Poseidon inhaled deeply and hummed as he exhaled. Sally could feel the vibration against his chest. “I would stop the tide for you, Sally Jackson.”

Sally closed her eyes and tilted her head to kiss the underside of his jaw. Now that the unfortunate reality was beginning to set in, she wanted nothing more than to stay in that for as long as she could.

~~~~~~~

_November 1992_

Sally left at the end of August.

She had packed up all her things in the cabin and tidied up for the last time. The following day, she’d be heading back into the city, where she would begin her job search immediately and slip back into the rhythm of her hard-knock life.

That afternoon, Sally had sat in the sand in her white cotton sundress and stared out into the water for the last time before she had to go. Poseidon appeared beside her and placed an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him.

They were silent for a while until Poseidon spoke. “I meant what I said about the palace, you know.”

Sally thought back to the moment in July when he’d suggested that they run away together and live underwater. She’d only thought he’d been joking then.

She chuckled softly. “Yeah, right.”

“I’m serious, Sally. You don’t have to go back. You could stay with me. I could build you your own palace if you’d like – make you immortal. You won’t have to worry about being alone or trying so hard to take care of yourself. I could take care of you forever.”

The offer was so sweet, Sally was sure her heart would burst. But she knew she could never agree. “Poseidon, you don’t have to protect me. You don’t owe me anything.”

His eyes searched hers for something hopeful. He wanted her to say yes, she knew. He wanted her to let him make it all go away. “No, but I do love you. And I want you to be happy.”

Sally had kissed him then, like she’d never kissed him before.

“I’ll be okay,” she’d said when they finally pulled away. “If my life is going to mean something, I have to live it myself.” She took one of his hands and squeezed it. “Thank you for the best summer of my life.”

She didn’t see Poseidon again for a while after that day. Sally returned to Queens, picked up two part-time jobs as a waitress and a hotel maid, and saved up her money for night classes so that she could at least finish her high school education. It was a bit of an adjustment, being completely on her own, but she knew she had to deal with it. It wouldn’t be this way forever. It couldn’t be.

Some days were harder than others. There were moments when Sally felt like she just couldn’t do it. She was too young, too tired, too stressed. Sometimes she felt so alone, it almost broke her heart. At times like those, she would simply think of Poseidon and the beautiful summer they’d spent together, and Sally would start to feel okay. She’d be reminded that she could make it on her own. But one week in particular was worse than the others.

Sally had been yelled at twice in one shift by her boss at the diner who had threatened to fire her the next time a rude customer complained about the food that Sally hadn’t even cooked, and she’d gotten her hours at the hotel cut, forcing her to look for a third job. The bills were due to be paid soon and she hadn’t racked up nearly as many tips as she usually did, so she was left short a couple hundred dollars. The rent would be paid late. Again.

She tried to think about Montauk, but this time, just the thought wasn’t enough. Sally packed a weekend bag, stuffing a change of clothes, a swimsuit, and couple of toiletries into a duffle before fleeing her apartment and hailing a taxi to Montauk beach. She hoped that just being there would help calm her down. She hadn’t even paid for the cabin, but it was November, and she assumed no one would be staying there.

Sally nearly jumped out of the cab before it even stopped, and tossed a few bucks to the driver before she walked away. She made it to the cabin and checked the doormat for the spare key she’d made since she didn’t have the original. Sure enough, it was there. Once inside, she dropped her bag on the wooden floor and grabbed a blanket from the small storage closet before walking back outside to stand on the beach.

It was much colder now, but Sally didn’t mind. The sky was overcast rather than clear, and the waves were restless. She couldn’t see the sun setting, but she knew it was there behind the clouds, settling down for the night under the horizon. She closed her eyes and breathed in the familiar salty air. In the city, there was a reminder at every turn that there was something else to be done, somewhere else to go, or someone to be paid at any given moment. But here… this was her happy place. Every memory made here was golden.

“Sally?”

Her eyes shot open.

To her right stood a young man. He wore a black rain coat and rubber boots under dark grey pants. It wasn’t the attire she was used to seeing – Hawaiian shirts and shorts with flip flops. But she knew it was him. She always knew.

His dark hair was as unruly as ever and his eyes were the same hypnotizing green whirlpools she remembered.

“Poseidon.”

They both moved at the same time and met in an embrace. Sally nearly melted in his arms. She had forgotten how good it felt to be held by him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, still hugging her tight. “Is something wrong?”

Sally sniffled. She hadn’t realized she’d been crying. “No,” she fibbed. “I just…needed to get away for a bit.”

Poseidon kissed the top of her head and released her, leaving a hand on the small of her back. “Come. Let’s go inside. It’s too cold out here for you.”

She allowed him to guide her back into the cabin. They both sat down at the small table in the kitchen like they had so many times before. Poseidon angled his chair towards her and took both of her hands in his. “Tell me what’s wrong, Sally.”

She smiled at the sound of her name rolling off his tongue. She’d missed it. “Nothing’s wrong, Poseidon. Things are just…difficult. I just needed a moment to clear my head and I couldn’t do it in the city, so I came here.”

Sally looked at his concerned expression and she knew he wasn’t buying it. She didn’t care. She smiled softly and asked, “Now you know why I’m here.” She tilted her head. “Why are _you_ here?”

Poseidon’s expression eased, but something lingered. A tinge of guilt. “I’ve told you before. You’re irresistible, Sally Jackson. When I sensed that you were here again… I should have let you be, but I had to see you.”

Sally looked down at their clasped hands and tried to ignore the blush creeping up her cheeks. They sat in silence for a moment.

“Gods, I’ve missed you.”

She looked up to see Poseidon watching her, longing and intensity swimming in the pools of his dark green irises.

“I’ve missed you too, Poseidon.”

Without a warning, he leaned forward and kissed her deeply. Sally couldn’t help but return the same fervor. She’d missed everything about him – his rough hands that always completely enveloped hers, the way his messy hair felt tangled in her fingers, his scent, the salty taste of his lips. It was all so much, all coming back to her in one kiss.

They pulled away for air, and Sally searched Poseidon’s eyes. His pupils were wide. The sound of the waves crashing against the shore outside were louder now. She could see them in his eyes. And there, she found an answer. An understanding between them. She needed him. They needed each other, even if only for just a night.

Sally trailed a hand down his chest and met his eyes one more time before closing the gap between their lips once more.

As Poseidon carried her from the table to lay her gently on the single bed in the cabin, Sally could think of nothing but him and the safety felt in his company. It was like all of her problems disappeared when they were together. Her past felt like another life and her future seemed brighter.

He felt like the new beginning she’d been searching for in the sunrise.

Sally smiled as every touch sent warmth coursing through her body. Every kiss left on her neck and shoulders came with murmured loving words. _My queen. My love. My sweet Sally._

For the first time in a long time, Sally didn’t feel alone.

For the first time in a long time, Sally felt loved.

~~~~~~~

_December 1992_

Sally had left Montauk that November weekend feeling better than she had during the summer. She and Poseidon had parted ways, but she’d gone without the overwhelming sadness she’d carried back in August. This time, “goodbye” felt different. She knew she might never see Poseidon again, but she had made her peace with it.

Everything had been gone back to normal for Sally, and she’d been doing alright for the last month or so.

Until she started getting sick.

The nausea usually hit during the first half of the day, but then her stomach would settle after lunch only to act up again in the afternoon. She was even more fatigued than usual and would sometimes cramp in her abdomen. She didn’t have to ask a doctor about the symptoms of her condition to get an idea of what was happening.

Sally stared at the three white sticks laying in her bathroom sink, each branded with tiny pink plus signs that bore into her soul. With shaking hands, she grabbed one of the empty boxes and checked the instructions on the back for the fourth time. Plus sign means…

_Pregnant._

She sank to the floor and cried. It’s not like Sally didn’t want kids or didn’t like them. Of course she wanted children one day, but not now. The timing was so rotten that instead of feeling overjoyed like she’d always hoped, she felt defeated. She could barely support herself, how was she supposed to take care of a _baby?_ And she was so young. And, gods, Poseidon…

Poseidon.

Poseidon was a god.

What did that mean for her baby? What would become of their child? Was it even allowed? Sally didn’t even think it was possible for a god to have a child with a human. Sure, she’d heard the myths in school, but that’s all they had been: myths.

Sally could barely catch her breath. Her mind was racing with so many questions and her chest swelled with fear.

“Oh, Poseidon, what have we done?” she muttered to herself.

Sally felt a sudden breeze and the smell of Montauk beach filled her bathroom. Startled, she looked up to see Poseidon in the doorway.

“I heard you call me.”

Sally just stared. She was at a loss for words. She didn’t know what to say or how to tell him. She hadn’t even processed it, herself.

Apparently, she didn’t have to say anything. Poseidon’s worried gaze flicked to the sink and his expression grew solemn. He sighed heavily. “Oh, Sally…”

She couldn’t meet his eyes as he knelt beside her on the bathroom floor. He stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I’m sorry. I feared this would happen.”

Sally finally locked eyes with him. She tried to keep a straight face, but she was terrified and he must have seen that. “What do I do, Poseidon?”

She didn’t say “we” because she knew there was no “we.” Not with him. If he wasn’t even supposed to be seeing Sally, then she assumed he sure as hell wasn’t supposed to be having a child with her.

“Protect the child. They will be powerful, Sally – half god, half mortal. There is a camp – a place for children like this one. You must send them there as soon as possible. The mortal world outside of those boundaries is no place for them; they will be hunted by monsters and other magical beings.”

A brochure materialized in Poseidon’s hand. He stared at it for a moment before handing it to a teary-eyed Sally. “There, they will learn to fight – to defend themselves. They will train to survive in the mortal world.”

Sally was holding back sobs now. Not only was she expecting a child at the tender age of 19, alone, with hardly any stability, but it was the child of a god and she was supposed to hand them over to some camp as soon as they were old enough to say the word “monster” so that they may survive an attack from such a thing.

“Sally,” Poseidon said urgently. “You _must_ do this. This child is not supposed to exist. It is against the oath I took with my brothers. Protect my child.”

Sally nodded slowly. She understood that their baby was going to have a rough life, but it was her responsibility now. She would do whatever she had to do to make sure that their child was safe as long as he or she was with her. “I will.”

Poseidon cupped her cheek gently, the way he often did during their summer together. “It will be alright, Sally. I have faith in you. I know you’ll be a wonderful mother. Our child is in good hands.”

Sally took a deep breath. If Poseidon had faith in her, then she needed to have faith in herself, too.

He looked down at the brochure in her lap. “I cannot be a part of their life. It’s much too dangerous. If I could…if things were different – “

“I know.” Sally placed a hand over one of his. “I understand, Poseidon.”

He smiled apologetically at her. “You are so strong, Sally Jackson. It’s one of the things I admire most about you.”

A small smile tugged at her own lips. “Thank you,” she replied quietly.

Poseidon lifted her hand to his lips and pressed a final kiss against her trembling skin before dissipating into thin air, leaving behind only the warm, homey feeling of his presence and her silent resolve.

~~~~~~~

_August 18, 1993_

Sally had been preparing for the arrival of her baby boy for the last nine months. She worked as many hours as any one of her employers would allow her, and spent the little free time she had shopping for baby supplies and reading up on her Greek mythology at the nearby public libraries. If her son was going to be tracked down and hunted by horrible creatures, then she needed to know who they were and what they looked like.

There was still a week left for Sally to prepare for her son before her due date, but Baby Jackson had other ideas.

Unpredictable, just like his father.

It was about four a.m. when Sally was stirred awake by a strong pain in her lower belly. She was frightened at first, thinking that maybe something was wrong with the baby when she realized what was actually happening. Steeling herself, she grabbed the bag she’d had packed for weeks and the small car seat tucked away in the closet. She threw on some new pants and took a cab to the hospital, nearly scaring the pants off the driver when she’d groaned through an especially strong contraction. _You better not give birth in my cab, lady!_ he’d said.

She’d rolled her eyes and told him to keep driving.

Sally checked herself into the hospital and sat in the waiting room for a nurse. Her hands fidgeted with the strap of her overnight bag and the stretched hem of her t-shirt. She couldn’t believe she was about to have a baby. In possibly less than 24 hours, she’d be holding her son.

“Sally Jackson?”

She looked up at the call of her name. A pretty Black woman in coral scrubs smiled kindly at her. “We’re ready for you, dear.”

Sally swallowed hard and shakily hauled herself out of her seat. She waddled over to the nurse and sat down in the wheelchair that had been brought out for her.

“Let’s go have a baby, shall we?”

* * *

Ten hours and a whole lot of pain later, a red-faced, screaming baby boy was placed into Sally Jackson’s arms.

She was sweaty and exhausted and so ready to sleep, but the little human cradled against her chest was just so beautiful and so magnificent that she couldn’t find it in herself to look away.

She allowed the nurses to whisk him off to get cleaned up and measured. They insisted she rest, but she couldn’t. Sally stayed awake until they wheeled her baby back into the room in a small, clear bassinet. He was quiet now, squirming slightly in his swaddled blanket. Sally’s nurse handed the baby to her, knowing that the new mother wasn’t going to sleep any time soon.

“Have you thought of a name for him, yet?”

She actually had, but none of them seemed right, now that Sally was looking at her son’s face. She studied him for a second, admiring how much he looked like Poseidon. She thought about the things her baby’s father had warned her about. _Protect my child._

Suddenly, a name crossed her mind. Sally briefly remembered reading a story about a Greek demigod who had lived a full life without being killed prematurely by a god or a monster or a war – one of the only happily-ever-afters in the myths.

“Yes,” Sally replied, growing more and more fond of the name by the second. “Perseus. Perseus Jackson.”

Sally spelled out the name and the nurse jotted it down on a clipboard. The woman smiled. “Well, Sally, I’ll leave you and little Perseus alone for a while. Ring if you need anything. I’ll come back and check on you two soon.”

Sally thanked her and turned her attention back to the now-sleeping child in her arms. She already loved him so much, it hurt.

“I promise I’ll never let anything happen to you.”

She gently kissed his little head and stroked his cheek softly. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to exist, but her son was a miracle in disguise. He was the best parts of Sally and Poseidon. If their baby grew up to be anything like his father, then Sally knew he’d be alright.

She watched his tiny chest rise and fall rhythmically and for the first time since she was a little girl, Sally knew for a fact that she wasn’t alone, and she never would be again.


End file.
